The renewed searches in Praia da Luz
will be "useful" in understanding what
happened to Madeleine McCann, a former
Portuguese attorney general has told Sky
News.
Pinto Monteiro, who was in post when
Madeleine disappeared in the resort of
Praia da Luz in May 2007, explained that
he believed the Portuguese and British
are working professionally together in
the latest phase of the investigation.
"All investigations deemed to discover
what happened to Madeleine will be
useful - we need to establish some
certainty as to what happened," he said.
![](sk10614-1.jpg) |
The site of digs in Praia da
Luz |
He added that the case was a complex
criminal investigation due to "hundreds
of false directions, hundreds of false
statements … some were well-intentioned
and others just malicious".
Specialist teams have spent the past
week on new searches.
Monday was a rest day for the detectives
and search staff who will move their
focus onto a new site on Wednesday.
Today is a national holiday in Portugal.
The scrubland they cordoned off for the
past week is once again open; most of
the holes dug have now been filled back
in.
|
![](sk10614-2.jpg) |
A discarded police bag on
scrubland where searches
finished at the weekend |
A discarded Metropolitan Police
evidence bag is one of the few items
the teams have left behind.
The detectives have not revealed
what intelligence led them to
conduct the searches on the land
which now seems to have been
discounted from their
investigation.
Portuguese police sources confirmed
to Sky News that the next searches
on Wednesday will take place on
sites just outside Praia da Luz.
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